Deborah Dash Moore has played a pioneering role in the study of Jews and in establishing the field of American Jewish history. Only with difficulty could one find a scholar of American Jewish history who has not been touched, often personally, by Moore in her roles as writer, teacher, conference organizer, mentor, and editor. She is recognized as an architect of the field, particularly at its intersections with urban history and gender history. Last fall, her Urban Origins of American Judaism was published, and I corresponded with her over email about her work and this latest book.
Moore is the Director of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies and the Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Previously, she taught at Vassar College where she helped to found their program in Jewish Studies and served as head of Religious Studies. She is the authored or edited ten books, including At Home In America: Second Generation New York Jews, To the Golden Cities: Pursuing the American Dream in Miami and Los Angeles, and, with Paula Hyman, Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia, for which they received a National Jewish Book Award. Mooreâ??s 2004 book, GI Jews: How World War II Changed a Generation, was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. This interview had been edited slightly for length and clarity.
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